Bangladesh Begins Destroying Stockpiles of Land Mines

Bangladesh says it has begun destroying its stockpiles of some 200,000 anti-personnel land mines.

Bangladeshi army officials say this is in line with the United Nations-sponsored Anti-personnel Mine Ban Treaty the country signed six years ago.

The officials say army demolition squads Tuesday destroyed more than 700 mines. They say the rest will be destroyed in phases over the next four months, and that the army will retain 15,000 mines for training purposes.

Bangladesh says it has never used land mines, but that neighboring Burma has placed some on their common border.

Bangladesh acquired the land mines from different countries, including China, India and Pakistan. It is the only South Asian country to sign the 1997 treaty known as the Ottawa Convention.